A Forest in the Sea

I never feel as one with the planet as I do when I am scuba diving. When diving in Thailand, I explored amazing coral reefs. Red, pink, and yellow coral growing out of the reef moved slightly with the currents, and schools of bright blue, yellow, and black-and-white striped fish swam around and past me. My most memorable moment was when a manta ray slowly flew by me, its fin nearly brushing my arm.

Coral reefs form when coral dies and leaves behind a skeleton that seems as hard as rock. New corals grow on top of the old and are incorporated into the reef when they die. The reef grows only a few millimeters per year, so it takes a long time to make a big reef. The current form of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia is 8,000 years old!

海中森林：珊瑚

我從沒有像潛水時那樣感覺和自然合而為一。當我去泰國潛水時，我探索了令人驚奇的珊瑚礁。生長於礁上的紅色、粉色及黃色的珊瑚隨著水流輕輕搖曳著，亮藍色、黃色以及黑白條紋的魚群從我身邊游過。我最難忘的回憶就是當一隻魟魚游過我身邊時，牠的鰭幾乎擦到我的手臂。

珊瑚礁是珊瑚死去時，留下如石頭一樣硬的骨骼所形成。新珊瑚生長於舊的上面，並於死去時融入珊瑚礁裡。珊瑚礁每年僅成長幾毫米，所以需要很長一段時間才能夠形成一個大的珊瑚礁。澳洲現今的大堡礁已有八千年的歷史！